This paper documents a robust link between COVID-19 lockdowns and the uptake and persistence of working from home (WFH) practices. Exploiting rich longitudinal data, we use a difference-in-differences strategy to compare office workers in three heavily locked-down Australian states to similar workers in less affected states. Locked-down workers sustain 43% higher WFH levels through 2023 - 0.5 days per week - with a monotonic dose-response relationship. Persistence is driven by adjustments on both sides of the labor market: employers downsize office space and open remote or hybrid positions, while employees relocate away from city centers and invest in home offices and technology.
@article{arxiv.2506.16671,
title = {A new equilibrium: COVID-19 lockdowns and WFH persistence},
author = {Laura Ketter and Todd Morris and Lizi Yu},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2506.16671},
year = {2025}
}